When accepting the task of investigating criminal infiltration of the police and associated entities, retired justice Mbuyiseli Madlanga could not have fathomed the enormity of the assignment — of how deep and wide it ran.
Now, after nearly a year of hearing jaw-dropping evidence against those entrusted with the safety of the country and its people, he has discovered that this was never going to be a quicky, wrapped up in a few months.
Madlanga has had paraded before him police members of various ranks who are implicated, together with their civilian cohorts, in what can only be described as an attempt to repurpose the state into an extension of an elaborate criminal enterprise.
The accusations have ranged from murder to stealing dockets, fiddling forensic investigations, acting as runners for cartel bigwigs — even stealing impounded drugs, which, as Madlanga was moved to observe, inevitably end up in communities where young lives are destroyed.
We may recall that all of this stemmed from KwaZulu-Natal police commissioner Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi’s media conference last July, where he accused several of his senior colleagues, as well as police minister Senzo Mchunu, of conniving with criminal syndicates and attempting to obstruct the course of justice.
At the time, due to the notoriously fractious relationships between the police’s top brass, some wondered if Mkhwanazi’s televised claims were from one of a few good men and women in the police or whether his revelations, which accorded him something of a cult status, were meant to further one or other of the service’s enduring factional agendas.
This is a police service notorious for internecine turf wars and cloak-and-dagger machinations, instead of focusing on its primary function of maintaining law and order and making South Africa a safe place for its citizens
Some of his critics questioned why he wore a combat outfit for the occasion and suggested that he ought to have followed internal police channels, which would most likely have served to bury under the proverbial carpet what has now come to light.
We have to wonder where the country would be had Mkhwanazi not called his press conference and opened the can of worms being laid bare at the commission. Would we still be labouring under the false impression that all of the police’s time was spent fighting crime when, in truth, some of its most powerful officers were busy white-anting the institution and betraying us all?
What we know is that many of Mkhwanazi’s claims, such as the murder of musicians and others, are being corroborated by the commission’s witnesses. Some of the alleged culprits are now being prosecuted, and no less a personage than Mchunu remains suspended from work after many months. (Never mind the mystery of why he hasn’t been dismissed.)
Yet this week the nation witnessed the farce of Mkhwanazi and crime intelligence head Dumisani Khumalo presenting themselves at the Brooklyn police station, allegedly to be arrested by the Investigating Directorate Against Corruption (Idac), another arm of law enforcement. The directorate has denied plans to arrest Mkhwanazi but confirmed warrants for Khumalo and a colleague, the execution of which was stayed on account of their involvement in month-end security preparations.
This is a police service notorious for internecine turf wars and cloak-and-dagger machinations, instead of focusing on its primary function of maintaining law and order and making South Africa a safe place for its citizens.
It would therefore be the height of naivete to simply dismiss the Pretoria incident as a harmless and honest misunderstanding, especially given that Mkhwanazi, who happens to be the national head of our fight against organised crime, went public about it, telling reporters that there was a “war” raging in the police.
It would be unpardonable to find that the police are distracted by palace games and internal conflicts detrimental to the republic
We need to know the protagonists in that so-called war, which side of the divide Mkhwanazi is on, and where Idac stands. Could it be that while the commission is unmasking the police’s enemy within, strip by strip, that enemy is engaged in a last-ditch fight to preserve a treasonous mandate of delivering the state into the hands of criminals?
This week’s fiasco in Pretoria calls for someone in political authority to explain to the nation what exactly is going on in the police leadership. That person should be the acting minister of police, Firoz Cachalia. But if the chaos has gone beyond Cachalia’s control, then the president himself must do the honours, have another of his famous “family meetings”, and clarify everything. It is that serious.
As things stand now, the country is on tenterhooks ahead of the June 30 deadline set by anti-migrant groups for illegal foreigners to leave the country. At a time like this, the country should be relying on the police to guarantee public order and the safety of people and property. It would be unpardonable to find that the selfsame police are distracted by palace games and internal conflicts detrimental to the republic.
The nation needs reassurance from the highest office in the land that things will not be allowed to get out of hand — as they did in July 2021.
Regarding Madlanga, it is probable that despite his exacting work so far, he has only scratched the surface of criminality in the state, and not only in places like Ekurhuleni and Tshwane. We do not know what he will unearth in Johannesburg, for instance, where he has started to sniff around, or in a big municipal metro like eThekwini, not counting the many small councils strewn around the country and hidden from the spotlight.
The argument is not baseless that the country should consider, in addition to prolonging Madlanga’s term, a more permanent, extended structure to fight corruption and criminality in all public institutions. Even at this hour, it is possible that the bodies are busy being buried.
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